Blast near police van on security duty of polio team kills 9 in Mastung

QUETTA: A bomb blast near a girls’ high school in Mastung, Balochistan, claimed the lives of nine people, including six schoolchildren, a police officer and two passers-by. Thirty others were injured.

The explosive device, planted on a motorcycle, exploded with great force, damaging several cars. Following the blast, eleven of the injured were shifted to the Trauma Centre at Quetta’s Civil Hospital, where many were reported in critical condition. Police, local authorities, Bomb Disposal Squad and security forces swiftly reached the scene, cordoning off the area and transporting the victims to a hospital.

According to police, the incident occurred on Friday near the Girls’ High School at Civil Hospital Chowk. Terrorists had rigged a motorcycle with explosives and parked it near the school. When a police vehicle passed by, the bomb exploded, injuring several people. The blast targeted the police mobile but also impacted a school van, resulting in immediate death of three children and a police officer. The explosion caused panic in the area.

Four of the injured later succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, raising the death toll to nine. The deceased were identified as Muhammad Haseeb, Samiullah, Safiullah, Bibi Khairunisa, Nadeem and Constable Muhammad Hafeez. Some of the injured included Amanullah, Ayesha, Safia, Ronera, Baba, Anaya, Umme Aram, Dildar, Akhtar Ali, Aneesur Rehman, Malik Hamza, Muhammad Irfan, Amir Hamza, Abdul Raziq, Tanveer Ahmed and Muhammad Irfan.

Police officials said the blast destroyed the police van, causing damage to other vehicles and rickshaws as well. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind condemned the attack and sought a report from the Home Department Balochistan. He said evidence from the site was being collected and hospitals had declared an emergency.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan National Party (BNP) expressed sorrow over the incident. Condemning the attack, the party described it as a heart-breaking event that demands immediate justice. It urged the government to hold those responsible accountable, pressing for swift arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators. It cancelled its province-wide wheel-jam strike, scheduled for November 2, and declared a three-day mourning. It said a new date for the strike would be announced later.

AFP adds: “The police van that came under attack was taking personnel for protection of polio staff,” Rahmatullah, a senior police officer, said. “Seven individuals, one police officer, five children and one shopkeeper” were killed in the attack, senior officer Abdul Fatah said.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi earlier put the death toll at three children and one police officer. “Targeting children is an act of brutality,” he said in a statement. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.